Mission Winnow Ducati team ready for its home round

The Mission Winnow Ducati team is ready to resume action at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello for the Italian Grand Prix, the sixth round in the 2019 MotoGP calendar and home race for the Borgo Panigale factory. Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, who conquered a fantastic double podium at Le Mans (France) finishing in second and third position respectively, are ready and determined to make the most of the ‘home court’ advantage to be protagonists among the rolling hills of the iconic Tuscan track, where they will be able to count on the support of the many Ducatisti fans expected during the weekend and gathered, as usual, at the Ducati Grandstands located by the Correntaio corner.

Dovizioso, who will celebrate his 300th GP start at Mugello, is currently second in the Championship, just 8 points behind provisional leader Márquez. Dovizioso won the Italian GP in 2017, was second last year, and took two more podiums in the top class at Mugello. Danilo Petrucci can also count on a favorable record at the Tuscan track, where he always finished within the top ten since he joined Ducati in 2015, with a third place in 2017 as his best personal result, one statistic he will try to improve in his first outing in Italy as a factory rider. Alongside Dovizioso and Petrucci, on a third Desmosedici GP19 fielded by the Mission Winnow Ducati team, Michele Pirro will compete in his first race of the year as a wild-card and celebrate his 100th GP start on Sunday.

After five rounds Ducati, which has seized three wins and collected 12 podiums overall at Mugello, is second in the Manufacturer standings with 90 points, while the Mission Winnow Ducati team leads the Team rankings with 144 points.

Andrea Dovizioso #04 – 2nd (87 points)

“To arrive at Mugello after a result such as the one we achieved at Le Mans, with three Ducati in the top four positions, is certainly positive even though we aim for more. This is our home race and I believe we can be competitive and fast, so our goal is, first of all, to step on the podium once again. As we’ve seen in these first races, this year our rivals are also particularly fast, so it’s difficult to make predictions. As for us, we will not settle for what we achieved so far and we’ll try our best, analyzing the data, to keep working and understand where we can make further improvements. I hope the weather is good because I have great expectations for this round.”

Danilo Petrucci #9 – 5th (57 points)

“I always have good sensations when it’s time to race at Mugello. I’m very happy because I’ll ride ‘at home’, on what is my favorite circuit and a good track to exploit the potential of the Desmosedici GP, as we’ve seen in recent years. I think this round represents a good chance for us to have a strong performance, and I’m really happy to tackle it after taking my first podium of the year at Le Mans, which gave us confidence. Both myself and my whole team are really excited and motivated for this race, which always helps, and the goal is to fight for top positions once again.”

Michele Pirro #51

“I’m happy to get back to racing in MotoGP in a track such as Mugello, for the Italian Grand Prix. I feel great, first of all, and physically in shape, I had good sensations riding the Desmosedici GP during the tests done a few days ago on the Tuscan track. I’ll ride without pressure this weekend, I’m confident I have done all I could to make sure I’m ready and I’ll try to help Andrea and Danilo achieve the best possible result. It will surely be a weekend full emotions, which I’m happy to share with all our fans. I’m still here, one year after, ready to give my best.”

The Mission Winnow Ducati team will resume action Friday, May 31st, at 09:55 for the first free-practice session, while the race is scheduled to start at 14:00 on Sunday.